In the prior art, of which I am aware, there have been several disclosures of a machine tool possessing the capability of machining a workpiece having a face, the plane of which is inclined with respect to the plane of the working table. This prior art may be reviewed, briefly, as follows:
McConnell, et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,765 discloses a machine tool capable of machining the end of a right circular cylinder in order to produce a compound curvature corresponding to the compound curvature of intersection between one right cylinder and a second larger right cylinder.
Romeu U.S Pat. No. 3,998,122 discloses a machine tool equipped with a working table pivotable about an axis lying above the working surface of the table and in the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the table, the tool being moveable longitudinally in a direction parallel to its pivot a axis.
Turrettini U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,180 discloses a machine tool with multiple tool casings oriented upon different axes in order to work various faces of the workpiece.
Foster U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,509 discloses a machine possessing a spherical turning device which, constitutes an attachment to a vertical boring mill and which allows internal and external spherical turning of a workpiece to be accomplished.
Finally, Yasuda, Japanese Appl. No. 50-107566, discloses a machine tool having a tool element for continuously performing a cutting operation.
All the devices resorted to in the prior art have several disadvantages. First, they all involve machines which possess such substantial modifications from the machine tools commonly utilized so as to require an individual to receive specialized training and to possess specialized skills for their operation. Familiarity and training with conventional machine tools will not suffice. Secondly, they all involve machines so highly specialized and intricate so as to require highly specialized and modified parts which are expensive and not readily available to the user. Thus, if such a part fails, unless the user has one in reserve, considerable "down" time results.
Each of these machines are further disadvantageous in that they are costly and are of great mass and bulk, thereby limiting their utility.
Furthermore, those machines which possess rotatable working tables require direct attachment of the workpiece to the table which, in practice, is possible only in a few simple cases where the surface to be machined has a width less than the diameter or the height of the tool machine employed.
Finally, the machine tools of the prior art are not readily articulatable and lack a desired degree of flexibility for performing a variety of machining operations easily and conveniently.
Accordingly, there exists a present need for a machine tool which is readily articulatable, and which possesses the ability to machine faces of a workpiece, the plane of which may be inclined with respect to the plane of the working table.